What we learned from conference expansion derby

So the Big 12 is the Big Ten, and the Big Ten is the Big 12. (Scroll down to play the Rename the Big Ten and Big 12 Contest.) Now that Texas has stayed put, what else have we learned from these tense couple weeks?

1. Texas still rules the roost. The Longhorns are a big winner, as expected. They were the prize in all of this, and ultimately, their decision to stay kept the Big 12 intact and in search of the Big Ten's logo. Texas can continue to play by special rules in the Big 12 and create its own network and doesn't have to implode the conference it helped create. Not only that, Texas got rid of two disgruntled members, Nebraska and Colorado, meaning there's an even bigger pie for everyone else. Along the way, we also learned that Texas' Rivals.com site, orangebloods.com, is very plugged in to sources around the country. Although the site wasn't always perfect, orangebloods.com emerged as the leader in Pac-10/Big 12 expansion news among the media. The site's top reporter, Chip Brown, used to work at the Dallas Morning News. By the end of today, Brown had bested ESPN.com's Joe Schad when they wrote opposite information about what would happen with Texas.

2. College athletics wasn't ready for superconferences. Not yet, anyway. ESPN.com reported tonight that the aggressiveness of the Pac-10 caused a number of people inside and outside college athletics to save the Big 12. ESPN.com reported people involved were business executives, conference commissioners, athletics directors, network executives and administrators throughout the NCAA membership. Many of them had no dog in this fight, but thought the Pac-10 was "taking an aggressive approach inconsistent with the best interests and values of the schools impacted, both positively and negatively," ESPN.com reported. It may be inevitable that 16-team conferences occur one day. But this was too fast and too soon for too many influential people.

3. Larry Scott has made his presence felt. In the days and weeks to come, it will be interesting to hear how Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott nearly pulled off a huge coup in his first year on the job. Scott was a forward thinker while in charge of the Women's Tennis Association, and he's doing the same with the Pac-10. He was that close to crippling the Big 12, adding Texas and Oklahoma to his league, and causing a massive realignment of college athletics, for better or for worse. The flip side of shooting for the moon: Right now, Scott only has Colorado to show for it. Utah might be the consolation prize to make the Pac-10 the 12-Pac.

4. Don't publicly insult your fellow conference members. You might still be living with them when the dust settles. Missouri is about to learn that lession the hard way. Missouri did everything in its power to get an invite from the Big Ten -- and in the end, Mizzou had to be saved by Texas to avoid being completely out of a BCS conference. Along the way, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon had to this say about why the Big Ten was more favorable than the Big 12: "When you compare Oklahoma State to Northwestern, when you compare Texas Tech to Wisconsin, I mean, you begin looking at educational possibilities that are worth looking at." Nixon may be right. But some things are better left unsaid. Nixon's statement and Missouri's public groveling for the Big Ten means Mizzou has created enemies at the Big 12 bargaining table for the foreseeable future.

5. Dan Beebe earned his paycheck. The Big 12 commissioner was on the brink of being remembered as the man who presided over the loss of a Texas-dominated football conference. That doesn't sit well on one's resume, no matter if it would have been his fault or not. Beebe hatched a plan with TV networks that reportedly will pay Texas between $20 to $25 million annually, gets Oklahoma and Texas A&M about $20 million, and provides the other seven Big 12 schools between $14 to $17 million annually. I'm still skeptical of the Big 12's long-term survival given the unbalanced revenue and fractured relationships. But for now, Beebe has kept the league together.

6. The SEC wisely didn't overreact. There's a reason Mike Slive kept using the words "strategic" and "thoughtful" in discussing the SEC's plan. There's a reason SEC presidents told Slive they were in the drivers' seat. The rest of the country has been playing catch-up to the SEC. The SEC wasn't just going to take anybody for the sake of it. Would the SEC have taken Texas, Texas A&M and/or Oklahoma if they slipped through the Big 12's cracks and under the right circumstances? Absolutely. But the fact is the SEC never wanted to expand because it didn't need to expand. This isn't necessarily over. The Big Ten is still evaluating future expansion plans beyond 12 teams. Funny how everyone thought the SEC would be the equalizer to the Big Ten's plans to reach 16. Instead, the SEC had to turn its sights West and be prepared to pick up any leftovers from the Pac-10's bold attempt to get Texas.

7. SEC missed out on the Lone Star State. On the other hand, it wasn't a perfect conclusion for the SEC, which nearly worked its way into Texas by nabbing Texas A&M. That would have gotten the SEC in front of a huge number of TV eyeballs in the state of Texas. Other SEC schools could have gotten into more recruits' homes in Texas and lured them to the conference. I actually think Texas A&M to the SEC ultimately would have benefitted the SEC more than Texas A&M. Would the Aggies have been able to recruit more elite Texas players because of the SEC, or would the Aggies have simply opened the door for the SEC to raid Texas? I suspect the latter. Expansion for the SEC, if it ever happens, makes the most sense by going West. As much as the SEC is perfectly content at 12, there's got to be a little remorse that it missed out getting into Texas.

8. Nebraska finds a good home. The Cornhuskers and the Big Ten make sense together. Nebraska will make more money with the Big Ten after always feeling shortchanged by Texas in the Big 12. Also, Nebraska moves into a conference with a better academic reputation. That might not matter to fans, but presidents like boasting about those kinds of things. (See: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.) The Big Ten, after trying to smoke out Notre Dame, ended up with a high-quality college football brand in Nebraska and gets to stage a conference championship game.

9. Basketball might as well be women's volleyball in expansion talk. OK, we already knew this. But it was reinforced during this process. Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, who presides over one of the most storied basketball programs of all-time, was a bundle of nerves knowing he was that close to Kansas being out of the BCS. Repeat after me: Expansion is about football, TV markets and money. The Pac-10 might have grabbed Kansas as a courtesy. (You know, it never hurts to have Naismith's school in your league matched up against Wooden's.) But the fact that Colorado got invited to the Pac-10 and Kansas was nearly doing business with the Mountain West tells you volumes about how expansion works.

10. The Big 12 and Big Ten are in the market for brand name changes. Jim Delany -- the Big Ten commissioner with 12 members, not the Big 12 guy who has 10 members -- said last week his league will explore changing its name. The guy who designed the Big Ten logo shaped with an "11" inside it also designed logos with "12" and "13" in them many years ago, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. There's a humorous look at new conference logos here from ESPN.com.

This is where you come in. Propose your new names for the Big 12 and Big Ten. Example: Big 12 Conference = Big Texas Conference. But you all are much wittier than that, so let's hear your proposals. The winner gets to become governor of Missouri.